[Thyrotoxic storm and myxedema coma].

Thyrotoxic or hyperthyroid storm is a grave, life-threatening, but relatively infrequent medical emergency. Immediate causes of death in this emergency are severe hyperpyrexia and pulmonary edema associated with arrhythmias, shock, and coma. This emergency is found in Graves' patients most frequently. Myxedema coma is an emergency clinical state caused by severe deficiency of thyroid hormones. This crisis represents the extreme expression of hypothyroidism. While it is quite useful to elicit a history of previous hypothyroidism, thyroid surgery, or radioactive iodine treatment, it is not obtainable.